Britain’s Emma Raducanu retired 6-0 5-7 in her second round match against Slovakia’s Viktoria Kuzmova at the WTA 250 Auckland Classic on Thursday after spraining her ankle, casting doubt on her participation in the Australian Open of this month.
Former US Open champion Raducanu won the first set in 22 minutes, but faltered in the second and had her left ankle examined during a medical timeout before leaving the court in tears after failing to complete the first decider run.
“I’ve been doing a lot of physical work over the past few months and I feel good and optimistic,” Raducanu told Stuff Media.
“So to be stopped by a freak injury, rolling an ankle is pretty disappointing, even in the first week. I thought I was playing tennis nicely.
“The tracks are incredibly slippery, if very slippery, so to be honest it’s no surprise that this has happened to anyone…we’ll assess it over the next few days and see what the next steps are.”
The Australian Open starts on January 16.
Earlier, Coco Gauff beat compatriot Sofia Kenin 6-4 6-4 to set up a quarterfinal against China’s Zhu Lin, who defeated Venus Williams 3-6 6-2 7-5 in a rain hit that lasted 2 hours. and 23 minutes.
Williams, 42, served for the match at 5-4 in the final set, but Zhu broke and then fended off four break points before clinching victory.
At the Adelaide International 1 WTA 500 event, two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka defeated Zheng Qinwen 6-2 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals alongside unseeded duo Irina-Camelia Begu and Linda Noskova.
Named WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2022, China’s Zheng sent down 10 aces and 34 winners, but also made 35 unforced errors in the Australian Open warm-up event.
“She is a great talent,” said former world No. 1 Azarenka. “I feel like she’s going to be a really, really good player.
“I thought I stuck to my game plan pretty well today… I was consistent, I took my chances when I could. I created more and more opportunities. I was much more aggressive, a little bit more comfortable on the track today.
Belarusian Azarenka next takes on Czech teen Noskova, who followed up her first round match defeat of Daria Kasatkina with a 6-2 6-2 victory over fellow qualifier Clair Liu.
Romania’s Begu reached the quarterfinals with a 6-3 6-0 upset of Latvian seventh seed Jelena Ostapenko, who committed 41 unforced errors in an erratic performance.
Begu won 11 consecutive games to overturn a 3–1 first-set deficit to complete the win in 73 minutes. She will face fourth seed Veronika Kudermetova for a spot in the semifinals.
Ons Jabeur, who came close to winning her first Grand Slam last year when she finished second at Wimbledon and the US Open, battled through the opening set to beat Sorana Cirstea 7-6(3) 6-1 to put up a quarterfinal down. final with Marta Kostyuk in Adelaide.
“(Cirstea) is a great player, she pushed me to do better and better in the first set,” said Jabeur.
The second-ranked Tunisian also outlined her goals for the year, saying, “I want the No. 1 spot, I want to win Grand Slams.”